Fiddlers to play at San Juan Community Theatre

Submitted by event organizers

Known to its audiences as a celebration of spirited, innovative and exuberant music, a concert by Childsplay offers a rare glimpse into the intricate weavings of Karan Casey’s beautiful voice, with the sound of all the violins from the single violinmaker Bob Childs. Childsplay will come to the San Juan Community Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 10.

From rural dance halls to The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and from world music audiences in Europe to public radio listeners at home, Childsplay has been touring the United States and Europe since 1988. This will be their 30th-anniversary tour. Supporting the 12 fiddlers is an all-star band, including an Irish harpist, a driving rhythm section of guitar, banjo, bass and cellos; a virtuosic Irish flute player; step-dancers; and the world’s foremost hambonist.

What is unique about Childsplay and central to the concept behind every performance is that all the fiddlers in the group perform on violins that violinmaker Bob Childs has made for them in his shop in Boston, hence the genesis and the double entendre on their name Childsplay. So their special sound lies not only in the skill of the musicians but in the warm familial timbre of the instruments they play.

Perhaps the heart of this camaraderie and the unique nature of this group is evident in one of the songs it performs:

“But I was made to play the fiddle / To hear it sing / To hear the angels dream of softer wings / Here Devils stop and scream / Where does the music come from / Where does it go / I may know/I may know / bye and bye / I draw the bow and I feel my heart fly,” From “The Fiddler’s Hymn,” by Pete Sutherland. Sutherland is the producer of the soon to be released seventh album from Childsplay titled “The Bloom of Youth.”

The group’s passion, authenticity and artistry declare that traditional music, song and dance are alive and well in North America. Captivating, inspiring, entertaining, life-affirming, call it what you will, the stick-to-your-ribs fiddling of Childsplay has become a jewel in the crown of American music.

For more information, visit www.sjctheatre.org or call 360-378-3210. To learn more about the band, visit www.childsplay.org.